The 29-year-old Yreka pro MMA fighter left for Poland on Tuesday. On Friday he's fighting in a heavyweight bout versus Polish fighter Michael Kita. The event is the main bout for the Fighters Arena heavyweight title at the FA 8 Night of Heavyweights event in Belchatow, Poland. The fight begins at approximately 11 a.m. PST time.

Last June, Linderman won the Cage Warriors heavyweight title against Mike Hayes in Dublin, Ireland.

Although Kita is a fighter who should have a lot of fans at the bout supporting him, Linderman said fighting in that sort of environment in another country does not bother him.

"I love going to another country and trying to win over the fans," he said. "I'm looking forward to the fight. It should be fun."

Besides Ireland, Linderman was victorious during a fight in Morocco last year, as he is 2-0 in fights outside of North America.

D.J. comes into Friday's bout with a 13-5 pro record. Kita comes in at 14-6 overall as a pro.

Linderman said that he feels fairly confident heading into the bout and believes if he fights to his strengths he can come away with the victory. He added that all but one of his losses came at a division lower than heavyweight.

Heavyweight is his ideal fighting weight class and D.J. hopes this bodes well for Friday's match.

Kita is a good fighter and Linderman said his strength is striking while standing up. D.J. said that his plan is to try to play to his abilities and make it more of a ground fight.

"I'm going to grind him down," Linderman said.

D.J. last fought in a light heavyweight bout on April 12 in Texas versus Robert Drysdale. Linderman lost the match. At the time D.J. had moved to Texas that January to train and help run a gym in Smithville, Texas. He also taught MMA classes to kids at the gym.

A few days after his loss to Drysdale on a Monday morning, he was told that the gym was closing permanently that day.

"By 8 p.m. that day I was back on a flight to California," he said.

D.J. has been training at the gym he started his MMA career with, Dosmthin Athletics of Yreka and working with gym founder Tommy Davis and friend and fellow MMA fighter Beau Hamilton in preparation for this fight.

While training for the bout, D.J. has had a very busy schedule. During the weekdays he was working as a roofer. As soon as he was off work D.J. began his MMA training for that day.

Page 2 of 2 - D.J. said that it has been nice being back in Yreka and training with longtime friends he's familiar with and all the terrific support he has received from folks here in Siskiyou County.

"It's great to be back and receive all the support I have gotten here," he said.